1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to composition for lowering blood lipid and elevating high-density lipoprotein, and more particularly to a composition containing monascin or ankaflavin, or a combination thereof, for lowering blood lipid and elevating high-density lipoprotein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The content of cholesterol in blood is closely related to the incidence of cardiovascular diseases. According to previous studies, dyslipidemia plays an important role in the cardiovascular diseases, thus the concentration of cholesterol in blood can be a well predictor for the cardiovascular diseases. When the concentration of serum cholesterol is more than 200 mg/dL, the probability of dying of coronary heart disease is raised rapidly. A person who has high content of cholesterol should have high morbidity rate of coronary heart disease and high death rate, but if the content of cholesterol is lowered by the treatment of a medical or a non-medical process, the incidence rate of the cardiovascular diseases caused by coronary sclerosis can be decreased significantly.
In recent years, health foods are developed vigorously, and multi-functional Monascus fermented products are gradually paid attention. In Asia, the application of Monascus species in food and medicine has thousand years of history.
The important secondary metabolites of Monascus species include: (1) a group of pigments, including red pigments (rubropunctamine and monascorubramine), yellow pigments (ankaflavin and monascin) and orange pigments (rubropunctanin and monascorubrin); (2) cholesterol-lowering substance, such as monacolin K (also called as lovastatin, mevinolin and mevacor); (3) blood pressure lowering substance, such as γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA); and (4) antioxidants, including dimerumic acid and 3-hydoxy-4-methoxy-benzoic acid.
In the above important secondary metabolites of Monascus species, owing to the monacolin K can reduce the activity of hydroxyl methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMG-CoA reductase), which is a key enzyme in the process of cholesterol biosynthesis, the monacolin K has a significantly effect for lowering cholesterol.
On the other hand, cholesterol in blood can be divided into two categories according to their density, including High Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol (HDL-C) and Low Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol (LDL-C). Many researches indicate that HDL-C is a kind of good cholesterol, and LDL-C is bad cholesterol. High concentration of HDL-C and low concentration of LDL-C are helpful in decreasing the incidence of cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis.
Owing to total cholesterol (TC) is composed of HDL-C, LDL-C, triglyceride (TG), and other lipoprotein cholesterols, the amount of HDL-C and LDL-C can be substantially increased in company with the elevation of the concentration of TC. Most researches illustrate that after the concentration of TC being lowered by cholesterol-lowering drugs, the concentration of HDL-C is also decreased greatly. However, if the concentration of HDL-C can be maintained or elevated, the prevention of cardiovascular diseases can be achieved.
However, although the above-mentioned monacolin K has the effect of lowering cholesterol, the concentration of HDL-C can not be elevated by monacolin K, and the effect of preventing cardiovascular diseases and atherosclerosis by monacolin K is very limited.
In view of this, it is necessary to provide a novel composition and a method for manufacturing the same, wherein the composition has effects of lowering blood lipid and elevating the concentration of HDL-C simultaneously, so as to decrease the incidence of cardiovascular diseases and atherosclerosis effectively.